Sharon Gardner helped to rescue Margaret V. Wiles from attacking dogs, Tucson, Arizona, October 8, 2003. Wiles, 54, was walking her dog through a residential neighborhood when she and the dog were attacked by two pit bull dogs, one weighing 50 pounds and the other, 30. The larger pit bull bit her on the leg as she secured her own dog and tried to fight off the attacking dogs with a leash. She screamed for help. Gardner, 57, administrative assistant, was approaching the scene in her automobile when she saw the attack. She left her car and ran to Wiles, positioning herself between Wiles and the attacking dogs and yelling at the dogs to distract them. Two other motorists stopped at the scene and joined in the rescue, enabling Wiles and her dog to secure refuge in a car. The dogs then turned on Gardner, the larger dog biting her on her right leg, and she fell to the pavement. One of the other responding motorists struck the dogs repeatedly with her purse. The dogs retreated. Wiles sustained minor injury, but Gardner required hospital treatment, including suturing, for her bite wounds.
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